The book was originally published in New York by LucasBooks/Del Rey/Ballantine Books, in 2007, with the title Star Wars: Death Star. It is held in 860 WorldCat libraries.[2] It was reprinted in London by Century in 2008 as Death Star.[3]

Contents

The Death Star is an enormous space station capable of destroying an entire planet, constructed under the orders of the ruler of the then new Empire, Emperor Palpatine. Aware of the possibility of rebellion, Palpatine knew that the Death Star would instill fear throughout the galaxy, as well as give him an invaluable weapon in destroying his enemies. The architect of the project was Wilhuff Tarkin. The novel depicts the many politics and hidden agendas behind the massive project, from its construction up until its final destruction.

Atour Riten: (Human male) Imperial Navy commander, Chief Librarian, who uses the knowledge he gains keeping libraries to keep his enemies in check; or out of his way. He hatches a plan to escape the Death Star with Ratua, Uli, Memah, Stihl, Rodo, Teela, and Vil after the tragedy of Alderaan. He has a certain respect for Stihl for his knowledge of philosophy. He dies in the Death Star, allowing the others to escape.

Celot Ratua Dil: convicted smuggler, caught up in a pirate round-up and was convicted to life on the prison planet Despayre. He escaped to the Death Star and hid there under the alias Teh Roxxor. He fell in love with Memah while in the Hard Heart cantina, and it's implied that he may be Force-sensitive, due to his ability to suddenly gain incredibly fast reflexes during combat. Although he got into the smuggling life for excitement, his family is actually rich.

Admiral Daala: (Human female) Imperial Navy admiral; in this novel, she visits Grand Moff Tarkin for a "personal visit" and gets a major head wound during a battle against the Rebel Alliance. Dr. Divini is one of the three doctors who perform her surgery. It is stated that her injuries are sufficient to cause permanent brain damage.

Darth Vader: (Human male) Dark Lord of the Sith. Darth Vader arrives to inspect the progress of the Death Star project, and eventually stays for a while after capturing Princess Leia.

Kornell "Uli" Divini: (Human male) Imperial Surgical Corps captain, in this novel transferred to the under-staffed Death Star. He gets into a little trouble after looking up info on midi-chlorians for Sergeant Stihl, but is being escorted to detention when a rebel hit during the Battle of Yavin causes the corridor wall to explode, killing his guards. He then makes his way to the others and escapes. After the destruction of the Death Star, he decides to join the rebellion. He is one of the three doctors to do surgery on Admiral Daala.

Memah Roothes: (Twi'lek female) pub tender of her own pub in the Southern Underground of the Imperial City (formerly [Coruscant]), when her pub and every store on the block is mysteriously burnt down, assumedly for insurance benefits. She gets a job on the Death Star, meets Ratua, and goes on to escape with the rest of the group.

Nova Stihl: (Human male) Imperial Marines guard sergeant, a student of various philosophies and Teräs Käsi, the latter of which he teaches to prisoners on Despayre and, after being transferred to the Death Star, to the people living there. He is a Force Sensitive, plagued by visions of his own death and of the death of the people on Despayre and Alderaan. His ability to use the Force is explored more than Ratua's because the results of a blood test he took shows that he has twice the midi-chlorian count of a normal person. Nova and Rodo are killed on the Death Star while stalling a group of stormtroopers, allowing the others to escape.

Rodo: male bouncer at both of Memah's bars. He also studies several martial arts despite his huge stature. Rodo befriends Nova Stihl because of their skill with martial arts. He also aids the escape from the Death Star. Rodo and Nova die stalling the stormtroopers to let the others escape.

Teela Kaarz: (Mirialan female) architect, convicted of treason for being on the wrong side of a political argument. She was brought to work on the Death Star because before her incarceration, she was a galaxy-class architect. Ironically, she found the fault that the Rebel Alliance exploited, and tried to have it corrected, but protocol didn't allow her to make that change to the plans. She falls in love with Villian Dance, and after the station's destruction they defect to the rebellion together.

Tenn Graneet: (Human male) Imperial Navy master chief gunnery officer, the man in charge of the firing sequence of the Death Star's superlaser. He starts out eager and confident, but after destroying Alderaan, he feels desperately guilty. Tenn tries to stall shooting the superlaser on Yavin 4 at the Battle Of Yavin, which allows Luke Skywalker the extra seconds he needs to destroy the station.

Villian Dance: (human male) Imperial Navy lieutenant commander, a top-notch TIE pilot, recruited to the Death Star. After a battle against the Rebel Alliance that was more of a suicide run for them, Vil begins to doubt the workings of the Galactic Empire. After Alderaan is used to test the superlaser, he realizes that the Empire is evil, and escapes. It is possible that he may be sensitive to the Force, because he outmaneuvers Darth Vader. He is in love with Teela Kaarz, and in the end they defect to the rebellion together.

Wilhuff Tarkin: (human male) Imperial Navy Grand Moff, the man in charge of the Death Star project and, when it's completed, the Death Star itself. He answers to no one but The Emperor himself, and believes that the Death Star is the ultimate power in the universe, making him, by association, the most powerful man in the universe. His extreme over-confidence in the indestructibility of the station causes him to refuse to launch fighter cover at Yavin, allowing the rebels to destroy the station.